Fit at 50: Rehab rebuilds strength

Jul. 15, 2013

Julie Haagenson lifts a kettle bell last week during personal training with Brendan Hurley at Results Personal Fitness. 'I was scared when I walked through those doors,' she said of her first Hurley session, 'but after the first session, I wasn't afraid again.' / Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader

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During her summer vacation in July 2011, Julie Haagenson decided maybe she could spend time getting back in shape.

She wanted to start by running, so she drove to a YMCA and hit the treadmill. She felt fine after the workout, until a few days later. Then she began feeling a sharp pain in her left leg.

Her immediate response was not to go to doctor but wait until the feeling passed. She thought the pain might be the result of a pulled hamstring until it progressively moved down to her foot.

And at that point, she found herself barely able to walk.

“Every time I stood up, I felt like I was going to collapse,” she said.

A few weeks later, she visited her doctor and learned that she had not strained her hamstring; rather, she was suffering from a herniated disk in her back.

Her immediate reaction was fear. She always had heard whispers that once you have surgery, you never will be completely pain-free.

“The first thing that came to mind — I’m going to have to have surgery,” she said. “(My doctor) said, no, it will be fine. You just have to follow my instructions, and I went home and followed his instructions perfectly.”

She spent the next two months rehabbing through a physical therapy program recommended to her by her doctor, making sure no detail was overlooked.

“I was really determined because when I had to stop moving around and to stop doing stuff, that was really hard for me,” she said.

After finishing her two-month rehab program, Haagenson wanted to continue, but as a workout. After all, getting her health back was most important to her. Once she received the approval of her physical therapist, she enrolled at Results Personal Fitness — a private personal training studio in Sioux Falls.

She said getting back in the gym was tough because she feared she might suffer yet another injury. But now, with the help of personal trainer Brendan Hurley, she was able to get back into the gym and start regaining her health.

Beginning last fall, twice a week, she worked out with Hurley. It not only was a way of continuing with her rehab, but it helped her gain strength and improved her health.

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“I was scared when I walked through those doors, but after the first session I wasn’t afraid again,” she said. “Since then I’ve never had any back pain, leg pain. I’ve only gotten stronger.”

Before her time with Results Fitness, she had never seen a kettle bell.

“I was really excited about trying something new, and to know that the person teaching and training me was certified was a relief,” she said.

The beginning of her workout was a struggle. She walked in unable to perform a single push-up. Now, Hurley said the workout comes with ease.

“Today she ripped out 100 snatches with a 20-pound kettle bell, and when she came in, she was having trouble picking up that size kettle bell. She’s whipping it over her head,” Hurley said.

Hurley said working out with a kettle bell provides a unique workout that’s unachievable with barbell exercises. He suspects the workout has gained popularity because it combines both cardio and strength exercises into one and helps with rehab.

“Some of the movements that we use have helped a lot of people rehabilitate injuries,” he said. “I know for me, personally, I had a shoulder injury that didn’t heal quite right and using the Turkish get-up … I was able to strengthen my rotary cuff and all the muscles around, and it’s stronger than it’s ever been.”

Although losing weight was a not goal for Haagenson, she said losing 15 pounds was a plus.

“I honestly didn’t have a goal in terms of a weight, it just happened,” she said. “I just wanted to gain strength and take care of my heart, and the bonus was being about to fit into smaller jeans.”

Whatever her intentions for working out, she wanted to feel the best she’s ever felt after age 50. She said she wanted to prove something to everyone around her who’s ever told her that they don’t want to get old.

“I think you can get healthier the older you get,” she said. “You don’t have to grow old and get fat. I want to people to go, ‘Are you kidding me, she’s 50 — that’s what I want.’ ”

Her trainer has noticed the difference.

“I’ve seen her confidence build as far as when it comes to the gym,” Hurley said. “And I think it started to transition into her actual life from what’s she’s said, and as far as movement and physicality goes, she’s living pain-free today.”